CAPE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS BEGIN SEARCH FOR BUDGET SAVINGS

Budget savings for the next fiscal year were the main topic of discussion during the Cape Girardeau Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

Dr. Dan Tallent, superintendent, gave a preliminary report to board members outlining projected spending patterns for the 1998-99 school year. If all expenditures that can be frozen remain constant next year, and if rising costs increase at levels similar to the previous year, the district will need to budget approximately $312,047 in additional funding next year, he said.

That figure is based on a 7 percent increase in purchased services like utilities, a 1.1 percent increase in the cost of supplies, a 3 percent increase in health care benefits and an 11 percent increase in special education services. All other costs, including certified and noncertified salary costs, were frozen in that calculation.

Tallent said staff should not be immediately alarmed at the frozen figures. The numbers are only preliminary figures to give administrators a starting point, he said, and don't take into account areas, like textbook purchases, where reduced spending may occur. Nor do they include any projections about increases in revenue, he said.

"I don't think anybody's surprised because we've been saying from the beginning we'd at least start there," said Tallent. "I had to start from someplace, so I started with transferring the numbers we couldn't affect. Our first goal is to work the $312,0000 off then see what else we can do with the deficit."